She was unsure just how many days it had been since the failed heist as it became impossible to tell time as she holed up inside her little train car home, clinging to her stuffed Batty as she continued to mourn her friend. The outside world had ceased to exist, at least for a time, all she knew for those days was the dark solitude of that little boxcar. The growling hunger pangs stopped mattering, they were dulled by her sorrow, they were there still, she was hungry, but she didn’t care. No, not just hungry, but truly starving, starving so much that she found herself spending more time sleeping than she did being awake, whenever she wasn’t crying that is. Even worse than the hunger was the burning searing pain that radiated from her foot, nearly constantly. This was her life now, she thought, at least until Loche came to punish her for not succeeding in the job he gave her. 

“That’s him now!” she screamed internally as her almost meditative state of sorrow and fear was interrupted by the persistent sound of pounding at her door. A fear only alleviated when she heard a much more pleasant voice accompany the pounding

“Silver? Silver are you in there?” The young Josiah called to her, “please Silver, answer me!” Hesitant at first, she limped over to the door and stood there, almost considering ignoring her unexpected guest, till Josiah called out to her again, “Silver, if you’re alive please, please let me in.”

The door felt heavier than usual as she slid it across its track almost as if it had taken all her strength to even budge it, but when she did get it open she was greeted by the relieved smile and an almost immediate hug from her friend. “Silver, I’ve been so worried about you!” 

“But why?” she asked, “you barely know me.”

Josiah hugged her tighter, “silly girl, that doesn’t matter, I care about you Silver.”

She didn’t know how to respond, how could she? She didn’t believe it was possible for anyone to care about her, she didn’t even understand what it meant to care about another person until Reks started to show her kindness. Limply, she wrapped her arms around the boy and felt him hug you tighter yet again, till she too tightened her grip around him. It had taken some time, but soon enough she had noticed she had been crying as they stood there embracing each other, surprised she even had tears left after the last few days.

When Josiah finally released her, he asked to join her inside and they shut the door behind them. There was a sad grimace on his face as he observed the living conditions of the girls ‘home’, a knife of sadness stabbing into his heart. “Silver, is this really where you live?”

She sniffled and nodded her head, prompting the boy to hug her again, “it’s okay, it’s better than bein in the streets, right?”

“Oh sweetie, I wish I could just take you away from all this,” he cried. It was while Josiah had hugged her a second time that she had noticed they had been wearing a backpack that had looked stuffed nearly past its capacity. Josiah released the girl, and flung the bag off his shoulders and smiled, “I can’t take you away, but maybe I can help make things a little better.” He pulled a bottle, a small box and a few other items that the girl did not recognize out. “There’s a filter on bottle so it’ll help you have clean water to drink, at least for a couple months,” he explained, “and these are some nutritional shakes, you can add them to water and it’ll help you get more vitamins and protean,” he said pointing to the box, “it’s not a lot, but I can get more for you when you need it.”

She took the bottle and the box from him and felt as though she would cry again, as a different sort of feeling washed over her, the same kind that had warmed her when Josiah had helped her before, or when Reks called her a good girl. 

With a wide smile he went back into the bag, “and of course I had to keep my promise to you,” he said, pulling out a familiar yet distinctly new looking garment. It was her dress, the one she had worn for so long, and it also wasn’t. It was black now, with a pink lace trim along the collar and sleeves. It also was no longer a single garment, but a top, fastenable by heart shaped buttons, and the bottom half refashioned into a skirt with an elastic waistband. The skirt also saw noticeable changes, decorated with pink frills and ribbons. It was beautiful, honestly too beautiful, as excited as she was to wear it, she became fearful of destroying it again. “Do you like it, sweetie?”

Nodding she began to cry uncontrollably, latching onto Josiah, burying her face into his shirt, “why?” she asked

“I thought it would be better to make it two separate parts so it can be adjusted easier as you grow,” he explained.

She rubbed her face into his belly as she shook her head, “no, why are you so nice to me?”

Placing a hand on her head he chuckled, “you deserve to be treated with kindness, and I feel like you’re owed a lot more after what you have to have gone through.” Josiah pulled a blanket and a pillow out of the backpack as the final gift they brought with them. After that he showed her how to make the nutrition shakes, and for a bit the two sat there and talked. Josiah listened as she told her whole story, everything she had been through from the day she was ‘born’ till she had caught Josiah up to the day of the ceremony.

“Reks, he,” she sniffled, “when the Shepherds tried to hurt me he protected me,” once more she was on the verge of crying, but the tears wouldn’t come, perhaps she had cried as much as she was able to, so she continued, “he got hurt cause of me and now he’s gone.”

“Don’t blame yourself sweetie, you’re just a kid, it’s the Shepherds who did it, not you,” he reassured her.”

“We tried to make it to your store, he wanted to see you,” her eyes stung, dried out but desperately wanting to shed tears, “but I couldn’t bring him to you.”

“Silver no, it’s okay,” he continued to try and comfort her, “none of this is because of you, okay?”

She shook her head, “he wanted to tell you he loved you, but I couldn’t even help him do that.”  

“Oh,” Josiah grew silent and he turned his face away so that she wouldn’t see him cry. He wanted to be strong for her, to hold his composure and be her support, but now he was the one crumbling into anguish as his heart mourned. Breaking down, he embraced the girl, and they both wept for their friend. They were too young to have to bear such a burden of misery, to see a friend barely even fourteen himself, die as a victim to the Shepherds. 

After a period of mourning, Josiah finally spoke up again, “Silver, never give up, okay?” He wiped his tears and cleared his throat, “Reks didn’t die because of you, he died for you, okay?”

“I don’t understand,”

“I know sweetie, you’re just a kid, it’s probably hard to understand. Hell, I’m technically just a kid too aren’t I?” he let out a little chuckle as he whipped his face on his sleeve, “but he wanted you to live, and so do I, you know?” She shook her head, and Josiah laughed again, “the Shepherds teach that our suffering is the price we pay, the ‘weight of all our sins’, but you’re a good kid, you deserve a better life than this.”

“I’m not a good kid though, I steal from people,” she said, wrapping her arms around her legs as she pulled her knees to her chest, “I’m just a demon.”

“You’re not a demon, Silver, you’re a good girl, okay?” his words made her cheeks turn red.

“You really think so?”

“I know you are, and to be fully honest, you’re really inspiring,” 

“Inspiring?” she tilted her head with an adorable puzzled look on her face.

“I’m inspired by you, Silver, I want to be my true self the way you are,” he smiled at her, “I feel so silly saying it, that a little kid can inspire me like that, but it’s true.”

“What do you mean, Josiah?”

“Well, I guess we can start with I don’t want to be called ‘Josiah’ anymore,” he stuck out his tongue and gagged, “it’s a gross name that I’ve never liked. It’s just not right for me.”

“So then what do you want to be called?”

He pursed his lips and crossed his eyes as he thought for a moment, then shrugged, “for now we’ll just say ‘Jojo’, and hopefully I’ll think of something better soon.”

“Okay, Jojo,” she immediately called him his new name, then asked, “can you not call me Silver anymore? Loche gave me that name and… I never liked it.” 

“Oh of course, then what should I call you, sweetie?”

She thought about it for a good long moment, racking her brain trying to find something that fit her. All she could think of were the words so many people said, “He is a demon” echoed in her mind, and while she hated it, the way people rejected her and branded her something they thought was evil, she also felt there was something there. He is a demon… He’sa demon? Isa Demon… 

“Ihsah?” she tilted her head, “no, Isa!”

“Eyesah?” Jojo asked.

“Yeah, Isa, call me Isa!” she had decided her new name and declared it boldly. 

“Okay, then Isa it is,” Jojo giggled, “honestly it’s a cute name, and most importantly it’s one you chose yourself.”

Isa nodded her head and smiled, “yeah!”

Jojo giggled more and rustled Isa’s hair, “I’m glad I was able to meet you, Isa, and I’m even happier to say you’re my friend.”

“I’m glad you’re my friend too, Jojo,” the two laughed with each other, their sorrow momentarily eclipsed by a sweet little moment, one that did not last long.

A sudden raucous banging on the door had signified the end of their heart to heart.

“Silver, hurry up and get your ass out here, Loche’s calling for you!” a man demanded from outside the boxcar as he continued to rattle the door with insistent banging. 

“I’m afraid Jojo, I don’t have the ides,” Isa cowered, wishing she could ignore Loches summons as she clung to her stuffed toy.

“Come to my shop. We’ll hide you in my work room if we have to, but we’ll get you out of here,” Jojo hugged her as she clung to them, “I don’t want to lose you too.”

She wanted to say yes, but she knew that Loche would send his men looking for her if she didn’t confront him now, “I’m going to go see Loche,” she put on a brave face and clenched her fist in resolve.

“Sweetie, please don’t do anything dangerous,” they pleaded with her. 

“I promise I’ll be safe,okay?”

“Okay, you’re a very brave girl, Isa,” they smiled, then noticing the tattered state of her little toy, “oh hey, here, I’ll take your stuffie and fix it up for you, then when you come meet me I can give it back to you, good as new.”

She looked down at Batty then back at Jojo, “are you sure?”

“Of course, I’ll sew it up and give it some new stuffing, maybe even give it a cute little bow or something too,” they gave her a warm reassuring smile.

“Alright,” she handed them the toy as she stood back up, “I’ll come and get her tonight if you promise me you’ll fix her.”

“I promise, sweetie, and then we’ll figure out what to do about your living situation when we don’t have to talk over this constant banging,” they took the toy from her and Isa gave them one last big hug. “I’ll see you tonight, Isa, just be brave and you’ll get through this.”

“Thank you, Jojo,” she said, pressing her face into their shirt.

“Any time, Isa,” two said goodbye and Jojo left, leaving Isa to deal with Loche and his demands one final time. 

She grabbed the little bit of money she had managed to hold onto from the church, gritted her teeth, and walked down the train tracks to face that awful man. 

“Silver, so good to finally see you boy,” he said through his slimy sharp toothed smile, “you did good Silver, you did real good.”

“But, we, we didn’t get the ides, Loche,” she pulled the money she had from her pocket, “this is all I have.”

“Keep it, I don’t need it,” she was skeptical of his sudden generosity, fearful he was going to have his men cease her and drag her away to his special room, but he didn’t, instead he continued to smile at her as though he were truly pleased with her work.

“So, I don’t have to pay you?”

He cackled and howled, “pay me? With that meager helping, no no no, silly little boy,” he leaned forward on his bed, bringing his face closer to hers, “I never thought you’d be able to actually steal the tithes, don’t be stupid boy. You two paid me by being the distraction I needed to get a far greater prize.” 

“Distraction? I don’t understand,” 

“Of course you don’t, there’s no brain in that pretty little head of yours, Silver,” he patted her head and she recoiled, “the alarm in the coffers was a brilliant diversion, and an excellent sounding bell for those so called revolutionaries. Honestly I’m just surprised you made it back to me alive. I guess I should be happy that Reks was the one they caught and not you.”

Her stomach bubbled and boiled with a volcano of rage, “A distraction! You meant for us to die so we could distract them for you!”

He rolled his eyes and reclined back, “oh don’t take it so personal, it’s the least you could do after I have so generously protected you for free these last two years.” 

“Reks died because of you!” she screamed, barely able to contain her fury. 

“He died because he was stupid, be happy you didn’t share his fate,” Loche scoffed, “compared to my prize your lives are nothing, it’s simply a bonus that you came back at all,” he waved his hand, gesturing for her to leave, “now crawl back into your little home I so graciously give you with those Ides I so generously am letting you keep. Hurry on now before I change my mind.” 

Righteous anger welled inside her, tearing her apart inside. He should have died in the church, not Reks, he should be a corpse in the streets, his flesh picked clean by crows and possession taken by vagrants, not Reks. “one of these days you are goin to die, and I’ll do everythin I can to make sure I’m the one responsible,” she growled, flaring her nostrils as she seethed with rage.

Before uttering another word, Loche stuck her with the back of his hand and told her to leave his sight, casting her out with one final bout of mockery, “your usefulness won’t last forever boy, be happy your beautiful now, because once that beauty fades then I will simply dispose of you like the trash you are,” he sneered.

Cursing him she stormed out of the room, pushing past a Shepherd who had entered behind her. She shot him a poisonous glare, her eyes burning hate into him, then stepped out the door as he delivered news to Loche, “we’ve brought you the prince.”

“Silence your idiotic mouth, you fowl brained simpleton!” Loche hurled insults at the Shepherd and gestured for him to shut the door behind Isa. 

The prince? They kidnapped the prince? She wanted to hear more, but one of Loche’s bodyguards pushed her away from the door telling her to hurry up and leave. She was not going to be so easily dissuaded, and decided if she couldn’t listen in from inside the train, she would simply have to sneak around to the back of the train. She exited the car and slipped around the corner, easily evading the detection of the guard outside. Hiding behind the corner and peering out from cover she saw some men drag a child with a sack over their head into Loche’s train.

She crept down the side of the train, till she reached a window she was certain was Loche’s window. Pulling herself up, she peered inside, her vision blocked by old satin curtains. She couldn’t see, but at least she could hear, and there was so much for her to hear. “You idiots had one job, and you nearly screwed it up!”

“Don’t blame us, it was your boys that screwed the pooch,” the shepherd retorted, “we’ve got the prince, our end of the bargain is held, you better not back out now.”

“Thirty boys for your pitiful little camps, it’s an easy quota for sure, and certainly worth the price for such a prize,” he cackled, “I’ve quite the collection to chose from, take whichever you find fit, but Silver stays.” 

“Then you already have them, or are you now sending my men to corral your children?”

“Don’t be stupid, they’re all gift wrapped with chains and bows for you,” his laughter was accompanied by the sound of a drawer being open right beside the window. Isa held her breath and lowered herself as she could see his silhouette through the curtains rummaging through a dresser of sorts. “You’ll find them in the other car, just leave the prince chained up for me and take however many rest you need.”

“It should go without saying, but we were never here,”

“You Shepherds worry too much about your self image,” Loche scoffed, “the blame for the princes’ capture will pass on to the revolutionaries, and we are all innocent in this whole affair.”  

 I can’t believe it, they used us so they could kidnap that damn prince? Serves him right, now he can see how it feels to live in terror, the weight of his sins! she thought, but her bitterness soon turned to empathy and then conviction. He was a privileged royal bratt, but he was also kind to her. He was, afterall, the first person who had ever given food to her. She remembered his kind scared eyes, eyes that reflected a life of hardships, not comfort. Eyes that looked just like her own. “Goddammit!” she cursed again and again, “fine, I’ll save him.”